Wow - so many kind words. I'll be sure to pop into the Chat Room every now and then - there seem to be a lot of people who will be welcoming despite my unfortunate keyboard dyslexia affliction.
I shall look back on my 1,882nd day here with the same fondness as I look back at other major life events :
Watching my puppy take his first tentaive steps outside
(Sadly, those steps led him right into the path of a passing dust cart which carried his limp, half-dead body to the end of the street where an urban fox snatched him and ran off - I never did find his collar 
)
My University Graduation
(Sadly, despite posting bail in the local currency as advised by consulate staff, the guards would not release me in time to catch the weekly fishing trawler back to the mainland for my flight back to the UK, so my alcoholic, drug-addled cross-dressing tutor had to accept the scroll on my behalf - I never did get that scroll )
Opening my first bank account
(Sadly, despite going through rigorous financial validation, just as I made the first deposit of my life savings, Barings Bank ceased trading under rather dubious circumstances - I never did get that commemorative pen & mug set )
My first TV appearance
(Sadly the 'seller' turned out to be a stooge for some documentary / exposé makers who, just as the ink on the cheque was drying, revealed themselves not to be relatives of a Nigerian Prince encountering short-term cash-flow problems, but an under-cover team investigating international money laundering for a Chechnyan war lord - I never did get that no-questions-asked £500K )
Again - many thanks for the greetings - now knock it off and go bug someone else !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :tongue:
